


These Things We Left Unsaid

by tgposey



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-08-24 09:32:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8367241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tgposey/pseuds/tgposey
Summary: Stiles' heater goes out on a cold night, so he goes to ask his neighbor to crash since he can't get it fixed. Little does he know his new neighbor is someone he knows, Lydia Martin, and they have a lot to talk about. Will they be able to say what they need to say?





	1. Cold Night

Stiles hated the fact that he lived in this shit hole of an apartment building, but with his $0 that he had in bank account to fix anything, just the occasional muttering curse words as he kicked something until it worked. Cue the flashbacks to his Jeep he had through high school that never worked. Sadly, it just happened to be the night that Stiles would describe as “so cold his balls could literally fall off and he wouldn’t feel a thing”, that his heater decided to stop working and no amount of kicking it, cursing it out, and, yes at one point, praying would make it work. So he did what any real person would do, he picked up his things and went and knocked on his neighbor’s door hoping they could let him stay over long enough that he wouldn’t freeze to death.

He took a step back as he tried to warm up his hands as he waited, hearing the footsteps come closer and closer until the door finally swung open to reveal the red-head girl that he towered over. Her eyebrow raised as she eyed up the person standing in her door way.

"Stiles?" She asks, her head tilting slightly to the side. Lydia hadn't seen the boy standing in front of her since high school, there was no way that he was here right now.

"Lydia?" Stiles was just as surprised to see the girl; it had been too long but she still looked as beautiful as he could remember. "I thought Matt lived here?" He asked, not remembering when someone new moved into the apartment.

"He did, but I moved in last weekend. It’s…so nice to see you.” Was that the right way to phrase it? They hadn’t seen each other in over three years, since they graduated high school. Lydia moved away to New York, went to Columbia and graduated early, Stiles got a job close to home – some would say too close to home. Living and working with his dad 24/7 caused the two to get into some heated arguments which eventually made Stiles realize he needed to get out of the house and fast, so he did. Living in an apartment only twenty minutes outside of Beacon Hills (so far away from the supernatural that he hadn’t had a nightmare about it in years).

The Pack split up for the most part after high school and sadly, just like everyone else in life, few stayed in touch. Scott was still his best friend and was the one he saw most frequent, but was busy at school two hours away most of the time. The last time he saw Malia he was arresting her for assaulting some guy at a bar, she wasn’t pleased and he prayed that she wouldn’t freak out on him mid-arrest. He wasn’t in the mood for scratch marks at the moment. His dad got her out and the charges were dropped but Malia still refused to talk to Stiles – who knew where she was now. Everyone else? Somewhere that was far away from Beacon Hills.

He couldn’t believe he was standing in front of the girl, the last time they talked was last Christmas, they saw each other at the store and Lydia had introduced him to her boyfriend – he was spending time with Lydia and her mom during the break and that he was “very excited to finally meet the Stiles Stilinski that Lydia wouldn’t stop talking about.” He wasn’t going to deny he was very flattered that Lydia talked about him so much, but with how they ended things, he wasn’t sure she would even mention his name.

“You too,” he finally chokes out before moving his hand to rub at his neck slowly. “Listen, I hate to be a pain in the ass especially because it’s so late but would you mind if I crashed on your couch? My heaters not working right now and I need to get up early for work tomorrow.”

“Oh, sure. Of course.” Lydia smiled at the boy softly and took a back to let him in the door, watching as he walked in past her. She closes the door and moves to grab some blankets from her closet, watching as the boy sits down on the couch and makes himself comfortable. “Sorry about your heater, I know how  _cold_ it can get in California.” She jokes before handing him a blanket, causing him to roll his eyes.

“Northern California is different, Lyds, don’t tell me the East Coast changed you.” He says as he lays the blanket on himself, which just causes the girl to laugh.

“It changed me a little bit,” she laughs again after her words but they both go silent, letting a small tension fill the air for a few moments. When did it get this way for them? When did they go from saving each other from death to not even able to have a civil conversation without it being weird? It was strange and silent – neither of them knew.

“How’s Michael?” Stiles asked with a small cough after a few moments and Lydia’s eyes just dropped to her hands and she shrugged.

“We actually broke up a while ago, conflicting issues.” It was easier to tell people that and not the real reason, she had no time for questions and the answer was far too long and complicated to tell every single person who asked – even Stiles.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” No he wasn’t. His heart practically leapt out of his chest when he realized that she was single, although he already knew that he didn’t have a chance at ever getting with Lydia; he never did and he never will. “Maybe it’s for the best, you know? You guys are both on different sides of the country, long distance relationships are a lot of work.”

She nods her head slowly and looks up to give him a small smile. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe his advice, because he was probably right, but she didn’t want to talk about it.

“You’re right, thank you.” Lydia dismisses the conversation quickly before moving on to the next topic. “How’s Scott doing?”

“He’s good, he’s really good actually. I just saw him last weekend, I drove down to his school and we hit the bars and crashed at his apartment. From what I’m hearing he’s been doing great, really hustling in school. You know?”

Her red hair bounces as she nods and Stiles stares at it as if he’s the sixteen-year-old boy who was in love with her all over again – it never stopped feeling like that, not when he was around Lydia Martin. Sure, he had moved on from Malia, from the other girlfriends he had after high school, the first one night stand he ever had that he got attached to by accident, but Lydia Martin? There was always going to be that connection, he was always going to notice things about her that he would never notice about anyone else. It’s just what happened.

Lydia noticed Stiles too, she noticed him watching her and how whenever she spoke the small corner of his lip turned up slightly before quickly fading as if it never happened. She noticed how his fingers never ceased to tap against the couch, as if something was going to spring up and hurt them and he needed to be ready for it.

That’s what Stiles and Lydia did. They noticed each other.

“I saw Isaac, when I was in New York,” she confesses to him, despite telling herself that she was never going to tell anyone. “It was a few months into my first year. He was waiting on line for a coffee shop and I could tell he picked up on my scent before I even got in the door. His eyes made it seem like he had seen a ghost but I could tell he was relieved to see me.” She continues on, not sure where this is all coming from. “Told me that Chris gave him the choice on his 18th birthday if he wanted to stay or not, he decided to travel the world, but no matter what he didn’t want to go back to Beacon Hills. I don’t blame him at all, but it was just…so weird. Out of every place in the world it’s like I cannot get away from everyone. It’s like this connection.”

“Like we’re a pack,” Stiles says as soon as her words ends, causing them both to lock eyes. They had yet to do that since they sat in the apartment together, and this time they didn’t look away. Lydia noticed that hopefulness in his eyes, the one that always kept her going at the end of the day and Stiles noticed the slight twinkle that he wasn’t sure hasn’t faded despite what the girl had gone through.

“We’re always a pack.” She whispers, her hand reaching out to place over his, and gives him a small smile.

It was sometime between 1am and 2am when the two put on a movie and dimmed the lights, ready to just enjoy the rest of the night and not to dwell so much. The idea of watching a movie and doing something normal with the girl still makes Stiles giddy, but he tries to hide it as much as he can. The sound of some stupid Will Smith movie is on in the background but neither of them are paying attention. Lydia rests her head on his chest and listens to his increased heart beats while Stiles wraps his arms around her and is too occupied running his fingers up and down her arm feeling her soft skin to have his mind thinking about anything else.

They were too occupied with each other without even noticing it.

Time passes. How long? Neither can remember, but Stiles wakes up in an almost panic when the sun shines in through the window as it rises. He notices that the two are pretty much tangled up together on the couch, sharing a blanket, a pillow and were pretty much face to face with the tiny room that they had. He doesn’t want to leave, but he knows that he has to he had to go to work. Plus, this wasn’t how Stiles and Lydia were supposed to be, they weren’t supposed to be cuddled up on the couch together watching movies. It was never in their cards.

He somehow manages to free himself from his entanglement with her without waking her up and grabs his things before quietly heading out the door and leaving the red head to sleep quietly. Deep, deep down he wished he hadn’t.

She wakes up from the click of the door and feels the emptiness next to her; she knows that the boy has left. Deep, deep down she wished he hadn’t.

That was Stiles and Lydia, always thinking but never saying what they really mean.

That was Stiles and Lydia, always guessing.

That was Stiles and Lydia.


	2. The Death Shifts

Lydia’s life has been hectic since she had moved back to Beacon Hills, she had been applying to Med school and trying to find a job to pay for said Med school, and well, neither of those things were so successful right at that moment. She hadn’t heard back from any schools yet, which wasn’t a bad sign but also wasn’t the _best_ sign. As for the job hunt, she wasn’t really finding anything great except for a waitressing job at a diner which wasn’t her ideal situation since the pay was horrible and that diner was known for people not leaving any tips, but it’d have to work for the time being.

In high school Lydia was fortunate enough to be able to afford the things she wanted, her dad might have abandoned them, but he (gladly) didn’t hesitate to send a check twice a month (or really whenever Lydia called him up and pouted for ten minutes) and she would spend it like it was no one’s business. But, her parents only managed to stop fighting and hating each other long enough to agree that they would only pay for Lydia’s schooling up until she finished her undergraduate degree. And _of course,_ she finished early which meant she didn’t even have enough time to save up.

Going to Columbia it wasn’t so much that she didn’t want a job but more that she didn’t have time to have a job; she was too busy with homework, studying, running clubs and of course helping out her professors. In Beacon Hills, Lydia was the brightest of the bunch, she was the cream of the crop and no one could come close to how smart she was – in Columbia, it was an even playing field, they were all as smart as her so she had to be different, she had to stand out from just her good grades now.

Well, being a banshee is standing out, but she couldn’t tell people _that_.

The diner was usually slow at night, and much to Lydia’s dismay she was the one who worked the overnight shifts, she was new and desperate for extra cash. Most of her night consisted of filling up the salt shakers and rolling up silverware in napkins, it was just busy work since no one really came in except for the drunks and some random teenagers that would pop in every once in a while. There were times where she would watch them closely and wonder how their parents would let them out this late to a random place – and then it always hits her that she would be up at all hours of the night fighting off supernatural creatures without her mom even having a hunch she wasn’t in her room.

That night wasn’t any different, there was absolutely no one at the diner and Lydia was folding up napkins in her bored state until she heard the door open. Her head perked up and she moved out of the table that she was sitting at and made her way to seat whoever was there. Grabbing a menu on the way, her head picked up to see the person she least excepted standing in front of her, Stiles, and all she could do is give him a small smile.

“We can’t keep running into each other like this,” She says, which causes the other to laugh. He’s not the same Stiles as she remembers him, there’s no goofy smile on his face because he looks more sure of himself, and his usual attire of sweatshirts, jeans or flannels is now replaced by his officer’s uniform; the only thing that stayed the same was the deep circles under his eyes – Stiles could never get enough sleep, even when he wasn’t chasing supernatural creatures.

“What do you mean? Late at night and unexpectedly is our normal way.” He laughs as she leads him to a booth, placing the menu down as he slides in. “Mind if I get a coffee?” He asks, which just causes the girl to nod her head and walk off.

Just like Lydia, Stiles was _oh so_ lucky enough to work the night shift. His dad thought he could “learn a lesson” for “always making the late night shift deal with the pack’s supernatural mess” and “terrorizing the town”. Stiles didn’t understand why three years later it mattered so much but he did it anyway to ease his fathers mind. That night it was slow and he kept his radio on, he usually got hungry around this time and if he truly knew that Lydia was working there was a chance he probably wouldn’t have come. It’s not that he didn’t want to see her, but since that night that he had slept over it was obvious that the two were avoiding each other. There was so many unanswered questions and unsaid words between the two of them that the night they shared just made everything feel more distant and awkward.

Lydia walked back and placed the mug on the table before filling up his cup, giving him the small containers of cream and packets of sugar, giving him a small smile in the process.

“Can I get you something to eat?” She asked and the boy nodded his head.

“Only if you join me.” He doesn’t know where the words came from, but it’s too late to take them back. “Can I just get a stack of pancakes?” Lydia writes it down, which is probably useless since there was no one else here the cook probably wouldn’t mix anything up. She heads back and gives the order before grabbing herself a glass of water and makes her way back to Stiles’ table, scooting inside the booth and sitting across from him, sighing as she did so.

“Guess both of us are on on the late night shifts,” she says as she picks up a packet of sugar and starts to play with it in her nimble fingers, wanting to avoid as much eye contact as she could.

“You mean the death shifts? Ever since we pretty much chased the supernatural creatures out of Beacon Hills all I get calls about is drunk people making a scene.”

“They’re usually here making a scene.”

“That’s true, but no one’s harassing you, are they?” He asks, his eyes trying to meet hers, but Lydia doesn’t meet his gaze. “Are they?”

“No, no,” her voice isn’t sincere but she tries to pass it off. “Anyway, I guess it’s in our nature to be in Beacon Hills at night, us taking care of the bad guys.” A laugh passes both of their lips but they both really don’t think it’s that funny. They could have died multiple times in the past, this town only ever did one thing good for them and that was meeting each other.

“Except it’s mostly me doing taking care of the bad guys instead of Scott,” he says. “The human is finally the hero for once.”

“What do you mean for once?” Lydia finally looks up at him, their eyes locking as they sat in a moment of silence. “Stiles, do you not remember saving me?”

“It wasn’t just me though,” he tries to pass it off but the look in Lydia’s eyes he knows she means business.

“It doesn’t matter who else was there, it doesn’t matter what everyone else did because while I appreciate it your goal has always been to save me, Stiles, since before I even knew you that was your goal and if that doesn’t mean something than I don’t know what does.” Lydia refuses to let Stiles think that he was a “small” role in what had happened that day. Deaton, Scott and Lydia all knew that Stiles had such a big role in why Lydia was still alive after they Eichen House that night, but what the rest of the pack saw and knew was that Jordan was the reason that Lydia didn’t almost kill herself. While Parrish did have a big role in what happened, the girl will always believe that she wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Stiles.

It’s not until her hand his on top of his that she realizes that she reached out towards him, they’re staring at each other in silence but Stiles’ lips turn upwards in a small smile.

“I guess when it comes from you I have to believe it.”

“I won’t let you forget it.” She says before hearing the bell ring from the kitchen window, knowing that Stiles’ food is ready. Lydia excuses herself and walks up to get the food, lucky enough that the cook was nice enough to cook something for her as well. She brings the food over to Stiles and sits down again, watching as he digs in before picking at her fries on the plate, watching as if Stiles hadn’t eaten in days.

“There’s literally no food at my place,” he says in between bites, dousing his pancakes in syrup as he chews. “I’ve been spending my pay checks lately on gas money to see Scott, paying my dad back since I couldn’t pay like the first three months rent in that apartment and trying to pay my rent at the same time. Oh! And trying to get that heater fixed still.” Lydia takes a sip of her water and nods her head slightly, feeling bad that the boy was having such a hard time.

“You can always come over to my place, my shifts don’t start until late at night anyway, assuming yours do too, and I’ve been told I’m a pretty good cook.”

“No offense, Lyds, but the last time you made me scrambled eggs you burned them.”

“Hey! I was like 17 at the time and barely knew how to turn on the stove, that was my lack of skill. I lived on my own for three years and I work at a diner now, I can promise you that I can make not burned scrambled eggs and pretty good food all together?”

“Oh yeah?” He taunts with a smile on her face.

“Yeah!” She laughs back. “Come over and I’ll show you.”

“Lydia Martin, are you asking me on a date?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“Do you want it to be a date?”

They take a moment and stare at each other, the topic of anything romantic was always touchy for them because it was something they could have had – something they _should_ have had, but didn’t.

“I can’t believe you’re asking me this question,” Stiles says as he shakes his head, stuffing another piece of pancake in his mouth. He’s actually quite upset at the girl’s question, more so than he thought he would be and it causes him to just shake his head. “You’ve got some balls asking me that.”

“Excuse me?” Lydia is slightly thrown off by the change in the tone of his voice, and puts down the fry she almost put in her mouth.

“Come on, Lydia, we’ve been avoiding this conversation since the other day, since we graduated, we could have been together. We _should_ have been together but we weren’t, why is that?”

This conversation wasn’t for now; it wasn’t for ever. Lydia had to go to school and she made that decision if Stiles couldn’t realize that then it was better that way. Before her mouth could open she heard the door swing open and for once she was happy that someone else filled the empty place.

“I have to get back to work, I’m sorry.” She says as she stands up, wiping her hands on her apron as she starts to walk away.

“Of course you do.” The annoyed voice of Stiles is distant but she still hears him, and it causes a pang in her heart. She tries to get the couple settled quickly so she can at least say goodbye to him, but when she’s in the back for a split second he leaves enough money for the check and a tip and hurries off without even a trace.


	3. Sober Thoughts

Elevators always scared Stiles, he wasn’t sure why he was so afraid of them and was sure that there was a traumatic event that happened when he was a child that caused this irrational fear. He was nervous as he waited, his foot tapping against the floor in the silent hallway as he watched the numbers increase, finally getting to his floor. Taking a deep breath, he stepped aside to let the people that were on it already off before taking a step on. He hit the button and closed his eyes before he heard a voice calling out after him.

“Wait! Wait!” The voice said, sounding out of breath and rushed causing Stiles to stick his arm out and stop the doors from closing. A whip of the girl’s red hair caught his eyes as he realized who exactly had asked him stop the elevator. “Hey, thanks,” she says breathlessly as she leans against the wall, papers flying out of hands and her face frazzled. “Shit.” Stiles hears the girl mumble under her breath as she’s trying to get everything straightened out.

“Need some help?” Stiles’ familiar voice causes her to look up slowly and give him a small smile as she feels the elevator starting to move down. “I’m taking that as a yes,” he laughs as he takes some of the papers from her hand and starts to organize them. “What are these for?” He asks before the elevator comes to a stop, opening its doors to let some other people on, causing Stiles to shift over towards Lydia more.

“I’m applying to Med school,” she admits to him, shrugging her shoulders slightly. “It just so happens that _every_ school that I’m applying to just so happens to not believe in online applications. They think that sending it in and taking the time is the most conventional way to do it.” Her green eyes roll slightly but she laughs afterwards, causing a few of the other guests in the elevator to look back towards the two of them.

The dinging of the elevator cuts of Stiles before he can say anything and the two shuffle their way off, both of them staying quiet for a moment. It had been weird how much the two had been seeing of each other in the past week, first finding out they were neighbors, next late at night at the diner, but it was all just accidents. Neither of them really wanted to talk about what happened (the night in her apartment or even before she left), or see much of each other – but it felt like life didn’t want it to be that way and kept trying its hardest.

“Have you took the MCATs yet?” Stiles asked, confused as how the girl would be applying to Med school without the important exam.”

“Two months ago,” she says with a small shrug. Oh how hard she worked to graduate early, study for the MCATs, somehow _pass_ the MCATs and now apply for Med School. This was what Lydia wanted more than anything in life and she literally felt like she sold her soul to the devil to get exactly that.

“Wow, that’s awesome. How do you even have that much time for that?”

“Did I not mention that I didn’t have a social life in college?” She asks as the two step out of the building, both beginning to laugh. “I’m serious, I think I slept like 3 hours a night and left my room a total of four times a semester that wasn’t for class.” She looks up at him as they both start walking over to their cars. “Hey, what are you doing tonight?” The question comes out quickly and almost quietly but she knows that Stiles hears it because she can see his facial features perk up.

“Nothing, why what’s up?”

“Do you want to go get some drinks?” Her hearts pounding, why is she doing this? He’s quiet for a moment, staring at her as they both stop walking. He doesn’t know why he’s not answering right away, possibly because he’s waiting for a ‘just kidding’ or a ‘this was all a dream I’m not really asking’…or something like that. He snaps himself out of it quickly before nodding his head, moving his hand to rub at the back of his neck

“Uh…yeah, definitely. When and where?”

“I’ll text you the details, sound good?”

“Yeah…yeah that sounds great actually.” And with that the two were off, what exactly was going on with them?

-

The day passed and before either of them knew it they were both sitting at a bar in town laughing while the two knocked back some drinks. The initial meeting was awkward, which in series caused the two to order shots…lots of shots, and down them quickly. Before either of them knew it, Lydia was holding onto Stiles for support as she sat at the stool, hysterically laughing and trying not to fall over as she did. Stiles was trying to hold her up, and wasn’t even sure what was so funny anymore because all he could do was laugh _at_ her. The bartender would pass them, give them a strange look and move on, there weren’t too many other people in the bar and the pair were definitely drawing attention to each other, but they didn’t even seem to notice.

“Do you remember…” Lydia starts when she catches her breath, putting a hand on his shoulder as she looks the boy in the eyes, swallowing slightly before repeating herself. “Do you remember when you took me to the homecoming dance?” She asks, which just causes Stiles to raise an eyebrow.

“Do I remember before or after Peter tried to kill you?” Lydia let out a hearty laugh, it wasn’t funny…at all, the girl literally could have died but for some reason laughing at the situation made the memories seem less scary…less realistic, although it was all too real.

“Before, obviously. I mean like I was such a bitch back then,” she says as her face scrunches up, but her words causes Stiles to shakes his head.

“You were-…”

“Stiles, I was a _bitch_. I made you carry around my dresses and I wanted to be with another guy the whole night. A guy who didn’t even give a shit about me, but you...you have always been here.” She’s slurring on her words and not even thinking about what she’s saying, just vomiting out everything that she’s been thinking about for the past three years but was always too afraid to say. “Even now, you’re here.”

“Lydia…I don’t think this is the right time to have this conversation.”

“Why not? Because I’m _drunk_?” She says the last word as if she’s just realizing this for the first time, her green eyes light up and it’s honestly the cutest thing Stiles has ever seen, even after all this time.

“Because I don’t want you to say something that you might regret.”

“I don’t have any regrets.”

“Not even one?”

“Maybe just one.”

“And what would that be?” He’s interested, his one hand is holding onto her still to keep her from falling and the other on the glass he was drinking out of.

“I said maybe just one, I’m too drunk to think of what that exactly could be.” Stiles just shakes head at the girl, she could be something else. “You know what I’m trying to say?”

“All too well, actually.” He laughs before finishing off his drink and looking back at the girl. They stared at each other for a moment, both of their lips curling up slightly as they did. “You know, you look just as beautiful as you did that night at homecoming,” he whispers to her, not sure if she can actually hear him but he felt like he needed to say it. Her smile tells him everything though and that’s all he wanted.

They spend a few more hours laughing around, sharing some food (that Lydia couldn’t help but insist that they get because she _needed_ buffalo wings), drinking a lot of water and catching up. The two stumble out around one and somehow one of them remembers to call the Uber, but still have sometime before it arrives.

“Since when is it cold in California?” Lydia asks as she crosses her arms over each other, starting to shake slightly.

“Didn’t you _just_ make fun of me for complaining about it being cold in California?” Stiles asked as he take step towards her and wraps his arms around the girl, holding her close to keep her warm. “And if you wanted me to hug you, you could have just asked.” The girl giggles as she embraces the hug, moving to burry her face into his chest, feeling the warmth radiating off of him on her arms.

“That would be too easy,” she says with a smile, closing her eyes as she rests on the boy. They stay like this for a while, quiet and still as the cars race past them, people stumble past, and they just wait. Together.

Lydia doesn’t remember the car ride, or anything after she closes her eyes but she’s somehow standing at her door. Stiles is standing in front of her asking her if she’s okay to stay by herself and she knows that she is but for some reason the feeling of begging him to stay is on the tip of her tongue.

“I’m fine,” she bites back the urge, knowing she’s probably not – she _literally_ forgot a whole hour of her night already.

“I’m coming in.”

“Stiles.”

“At least let me get you to bed.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“What if you die?”

“Do you think I can predict my own death?”

“What?”

“Banshee things, you think they know when they’re going to die?”

“I don’t…know, can I help you in or not?”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m fine, Stiles.”

“I know when you’re lying.”

“How is that?”

“Because you’re never just _fine_.”

“St-…”

“I’m coming in.”

He gave her no option, especially because he ended up with her bag sometime in the car ride back and that’s where she had her key. Opening up the door and turning on the lights, the boy helped her in before letting her wander off to the bathroom to get off her make up and do whatever she had to do before laying out some PJs for her and opening up her bed so it’d be easier to climb into. She comes back when he’s placing a glass of water and two painkillers next to her bed, knowing she’s going to need them in the middle of the night.

“You didn’t have to do all of this,” she slurs as she stumbles in, grabbing the bottom of her shirt and starts to talk it off causing Stiles to put his hands up to his face. Yeah, his sixteen-year-old self is dying on the inside right now at the chance to see Lydia without her top on but he was older, more mature, and he didn’t feel right about just staring at this vulnerable woman in this state, especially since she barely knew what was going on. It’s a few minutes and Stiles is still looking at the indents in his hands, hoping that the girl is okay without him looking.

“You can put your hands down now,” she says as takes a step towards him, putting her hands over his to help him lower them. “I’m not naked anymore, and you’re the only guy who’s ever done that when I’m getting undressed. I’m not sure if I should be offended or not.”

“Don’t be offended, I’m just trying to be respectful.”

“That’s a first in my life.” She laughs before letting out a small yawn, moving to crawl into her bed, leaving Stiles standing over her. She doesn’t say much because by the time her head hits the pillow she can feel herself drifting off. Stiles chuckles to himself, bending down to make sure the girl was covered in her blankets before smiling at her.

“Goodnight, Lyds,” he whispers before getting up and walking out of her room. He presses his back against the door when he walks out, why were they always doing this to each other? Because it was them, and that was the only answer that the universe needed.


	4. Say Something, Maybe?

The next morning was one that came with headaches and Lydia reaching over to try and get the last drop of water that was in her cup after already waking up in the middle of the night to take the two painkillers that Stiles had left for her. Everything was a blur and she barely remembers anything that happened the night before, but she had a feeling that her and Stiles had a fun time. It took her a few moments to get herself out of bed, her dainty body feeling like it had just been run over by a Mack Truck. Opening her bedroom door, she was shocked when she hears a thump, looking down at her feet to see Stiles on her floor.

“Stiles? What are you doing?” He’s awake now, when he walked out of Lydia’s room the night before and pressed his back against the door his drunk state made him tired enough that he just slid down the door and…well fell asleep.

“I passed out,” he yawns as he sits up, his eyes looking up at the girl in front of him.

“I’m too tired to even be upset about this.”

“Why would you even be upset?” Stiles asks, his eyebrow raising slightly as he looks at her. “It’s not like I’m some stranger that you don’t know. I think I’ve slept on your floor a couple of times before this, not a big deal.”

“Because I know you and I know you probably didn’t just “accidentally” fall asleep.” He stands up, towering over her now, but before he can argue back she puts her hand up. “Like I said, I’m too tired to be upset, so why don’t you start making your famous hangover pancakes while I go take a shower. Sound good?” She smiles up at him and Stiles can’t fight back, not when she looked so cute.

“Fine, but if you don’t hurry I don’t promise that I won’t eat all of them.” He says as she walks towards the bathroom door, which gets nothing but a small chuckle from the redhead’s lips before the door is closed.

Twenty minutes pass and Stiles is having the time of the life cooking in the girl’s kitchen, he has a stack of pancakes already done on a plate and is singing along to the Hamilton soundtrack as he’s cooking the rest of them. Lydia’s not really sure what she walks into as she’s drying her hair with her towel, eyebrow raised as the boy -- he doesn’t seem to notice she walked into the room and she let’s him have his fun for a moment.

“You never back down you never learn to take your...TIIIIIME. OOOOH!” Stiles sings out into the spatula as the song blasts on his phone. “ALEXANDER HAMILTON, AMERICA SINGS FOR YOU…,” his eyes open up as he goes to flip the pancake but he just freezes, locking on the sight of Lydia laughing her head off in front of him. “How...long have you been there?” He asks, suddenly feeling his cheeks warm up and **_not_** just from cooking.

“I think I came in at around the part where you were trying to sing the women and men’s voices at the same time.” She giggles as she walks up and grabs a plate from her cabinet, picking up a few pieces before sitting down at the chair in front of him. “Never knew you’d be so in love with a play that’s way over priced and you’ve never seen before.” She says as she cuts a piece of her pancake, looking up at him.

“You mean a brilliant piece of art that might be a little over priced but is definitely worth seeing at least once in your life?” Stiles says as he flips the last pancake into the dish and shuts off the stove. “I will definitely be seeing _that_ before I die.”

“You and about a million other people,” she says as she watches him walk over and sit down next to her. “Anyway, did I say anything I probably shouldn’t have last night?” Stiles laughs as he takes a bite of his pancake, shaking his head slightly as he looks up at her.

“Besides declare your love for me? No.”

“I did not!”

“You did too!”

“Did not!”

“Okay, you’re right. But, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have happened.” They’re both laughing, both trying not to let the reality set in that it _could_ have happened, and maybe if Stiles didn’t stop her from talking that maybe it would have. “You ever notice that we keep trying to have this conversation but it’s just always bad timing.” He says in between bites, his deep brown eyes looking down at the plate as he pushed around pieces of pancake that were on it. “You know?”

“I do,” she admits, not making eye contact as well – as if the moment their eyes locked it would uncover some hidden truth that neither of them wanted to admit. “Are you saying that we should talk about that right now?” It’s quiet, no response for a few moments but Lydia speaks up again first. “Because I think we should too.”

Stiles nods his head, he’s not sure where he’s going to start at but he knows that whatever they say now they just need to get off their chest so there’s nothing but a clean slate there.

“I told you I loved you, Lydia,” he says to her, not defensively or even in a hurt tone but just as a statement. “And you told me you loved me…and then nothing happened. If we both loved each other why did nothing become of us?”

“Why should it, Stiles? I was leaving for college being away from each other would have been so hard to deal with, it wasn’t good timing.”

“It hasn’t been good timing for the past 7 years,” he’s getting annoyed but keeps his cool, knowing that freaking out probably won’t solve anything. It was just so hard to get it through to her that he’s been in love with her since the moment he met her, all those years next to each other, saving each other – saving their friends, coming up with ideas, realizing how well they worked together for some reason he just didn’t understand how she couldn’t see it like he did. “It’s like I have to spell it out for you or something. I’ve had a crush on you since the third grade and yeah _maybe_ it was just a crush at first but high school started and it wasn’t a crush anymore. I learned from Malia what love really is, because I can’t deny that I loved her. But that was the thing.”

“What was?” She cuts him off for some reason, she could have just let him speak but she’s too curious, she wanted an answer right away.

“I didn’t love her like I loved you, Lydia. I knew the minute Malia and I were together that it was different from how I felt about you. She was great, we had a great relationship but it fizzled out between us quickly, but the feelings I had for you didn’t go anywhere in those four years of high school and that’s how I knew it was a different story for me. I wasn’t asking you to love me because you don’t have to.”

“But I did,” she whispers both of their heads picking up to look at each other. “I told you that I did, and you had been waiting so long to hear that.”

“It didn’t make sense to me,” he whispers, his eyes searching hers desperate for _some_ kind of answer. “It still doesn’t, but that’s the way it happened. I just wanted to know why and now I do, I guess we’re just going to have to live with this life of never being ready at the right time...or ever.” It wasn’t that Stiles wasn’t ready at any moment to be with Lydia, but he just wasn’t sure that he could go on forever with chasing her. He tried dating Malia, it didn’t do much but he had been single since then and wasn’t really looking, maybe it was time to give it a shot.

Lydia wasn’t sure about her feelings anymore, she had too much time to ignore them that when she told Stiles she loved him she wasn’t sure if she really knew what she was talking about. Maybe it was the idea of him, the idea of someone always being there that she loved, or maybe it was the fact that she felt like she owed him something at the time, so she said it. Lydia hid these feelings so well and never thought to go over them that at that moment where she is staring into Stiles’ eyes, she can’t really say anything.

“Listen, why don’t we just start with a blank slate, yeah?” He says, knowing it’s impossible to completely wipe out their history but they can try. “Just be friendly neighbors and friends for the time being?” He’s on his feet now, rushing to put his plate in the sink before finding his way to the door. “I think that’s what’s going to have to work for now.”

“Stiles?” Her voice is full of confusion as she watches the boy rush out of the room.

“I’ll see you later, Lydia.” The door closes. They don’t see each other the next day, or the day after that, and despite being one door over from each other they might never see each other ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Thank you guys for all the support and I apologize for taking so long to update, things have been a little hectic in my personal life. I hope you guys enjoy and let's talk about this season of Teen Wolf so far – OH MY GOSH. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks so far and what they think of this chapter. Thanks again for reading and being so patient!


End file.
